A personal blog with no specific theme. I write about what inspires me, on no particular schedule.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Gen Con 2014 in review

Gen Con: a tiring, fun weekend.

Since school started 2 weeks ago, we weren't able to get to Indy until Friday evening. I made sure to do my nerdicure before we drove to Indy, applying Espionage Cosmetics' Critical Hit nail wraps.

My nerdicure: Espionage Cosmetics' Critical Hit.

Since we were only at Gen Con for a few hours Friday night, I decided to cosplay in comfort. I donned a bathrobe, pajama pants and a towel to play Arthur Dent from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. For anyone looking to get into cosplay but intimidated, this is a super easy one to do.

Friday night cosplay: Arthur Dent

Of course, we stayed up way too late Friday night, playing a new board game, Epic Resort, with friends until sometime after midnight.

We tried not to over schedule ourselves this year, but we did have a few fun workshops and seminars Saturday. I started off my day decorating cupcakes to look like 1-Up Mushrooms. We rolled fondant, cut shapes, and learned how to apply it to the cupcakes. Of course, my cupcakes only lasted long enough for me to show them off before Chris and I ate them.

My cupcakes

Saturday was the big cosplay day, as usual. I dressed as Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service. This is actually the easiest costume I've made, with a pretty simple black dress and a big red bow. Of course, creating the pattern for the dress was a challenge, but Amanda helped me do that. A big bonus to this cosplay? It comes with a bag to carry stuff!

And I must share the cosplay pictures: me as Kiki with Amanda as Elsa, and me as Kiki with Chris as a Scotsman (he wanted to wear his kilt).

Elsa and Kiki

Me and my Scotsman

I actually didn't take a lot of pictures of people cosplaying this year. I enjoyed seeing all the costumes, but didn't feel the need to document them all. Plus, I was usually too busy doing my own thing to stop and ask. I did go to a seminar on cosplaying on a budget. I knew a lot of the tips, although there was some good information shared. I think the best part of that seminar was the people attending sharing their tips and tricks.

Chris went to a leather working workshop in the afternoon. He cut and prepped all the pieces to make a new sporran. He still needs to sew it together, but that shouldn't be too difficult. This was actually a perfect project since he wanted to buy or make a bigger sporran than his current one.

Saturday night in Indy was crazy busy, with a pre-season Colts game at the same time as Gen Con. Restaurants downtown were packed, but we really wanted to sit down to eat dinner rather than hit the food trucks again. We ended up at California Pizza Kitchen, which was a great choice, because the wait for a table was only 25 minutes. It was nearly 2 hours at Ram and 4 hours at Harry and Izzy's!

Oh, and the food trucks? Best addition to Gen Con. The variety of food is awesome, plus there is a lot less waiting than when convention hall food or waiting for a restaurant table were the only options. And there are cupcakes.

We brought the boys to their first Gen Con Sunday. This year we've introduced them to cons, starting with Indy Comic Con in March, followed by Indy Pop Con in May. They were less overwhelmed by Gen Con, even though it's bigger than either of the others. I think having the experience of the other cons helped them feel more comfortable since they already knew some of what to expect.

New to Gen Con (I think) was a button hunt for kids. There were 9 Gen Con buttons to collect in various parts of the convention center. This was a smart way for Gen Con to draw kids into areas they might not otherwise go. And the kids loved it! The button hunt kept our two engaged and entertained for a good hour. They were able to collect 8 of the buttons (the mercenary was gone)--and then we ran into some friends who had only collected the mercenary and gave them to the boys. They were so excited to have a complete set!

The boys with their buttons!

We were actually able to stay for over 4 hours with the boys, a record. (Previous con record was 2 hours before they were overwhelmed.) They were excited to see Waldo, Steve from Minecraft, and other cosplayers. Then we saw a Wookiee. And the Wookiee was playing cello in a band. They didn't quite know what to think about that!

There's a Wookiee in the band!

On our way out, we stopped to watch Rusty Bawls performing in the hallway. He's a Gen Con tradition. The boys didn't want to watch at first, but they soon were charmed by his juggling and antics.

Rusty Bawls, a Gen Con tradition

And then it was time to go. We were tired, and the boys were done with the crowds. They also needed time to play with their new dice and cards once we got home. Until next year....